Colonel William Clapham (1722 – 28 May 1763) was an American military officer who served in Father Le Loutre's War and the French and Indian War. Clapham was considered a competent commander in engagements with French troops and Native American warriors, but towards the end of his military career he was unpopular with the soldiers under his command. Following his retirement from military service, Clapham and his family were killed by Lenape warriors on his farm in 1763.
Early career and family
Nothing is known of William Clapham's early life. He was commissioned into the Massachusetts Militia at the rank of captain in Boston on 1 November 1747, and may have been born in Massachusetts.Murdoch, A History of Nova-Scotia, Or Acadie, volume II, 1866. J. Barnes, Halifax
He was married to Mary Clapham.Hoffer, Peter C. Colonial Women and Domesticity: Selected Articles on Gender in Early America. Garland Pub., 1988. He had one son, William Clapham, Jr., who served as a lieutenant in the Third Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot after it was formed in late March, 1756,Herbert C. Bell, History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: Brown, Runk & Co., 1891Officers and Soldiers in the Service of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1744-1765, vol I, Pennsylvania Archives and who was killed by two Panis slaves in June 1762.Steele, Ian K. Setting All the Captives Free: Capture, Adjustment, and Recollection in Allegheny Country. Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2013."Letter from Capt. Donald Campbell to Col. Henry Bouquet, 4 August, 1762." in Bouquet, H., Kent, D. H., Stevens, S. Kirby., British Library., Pennsylvania Historical Commission., Frontier Forts and Trails Survey. (1940). The papers of Col: Henry Bouquet, vol. 10. Harrisburg: Department of public instruction, Pennsylvania historical commission, p. 42 Clapham also had a daughter Mary.Letter from Mary Clapham to Jeffrey Amherst, 25 June, 1763, in Bouquet, H., Kent, D. H., Stevens, S. Kirby., British Library., Pennsylvania Historical Commission., Frontier Forts and Trails Survey. (1940). The papers of Col: Henry Bouquet, vol. 2. Harrisburg: Department of public instruction, Pennsylvania historical commission, pp. 199-200
Defamation case, 1747
Court records for Suffolk County, Massachusetts, show that on 30 June 1747, Clapham filed charges against William MacLanahan for defamation, claiming that MacLanahan "did on ye fifteenth of June instant at Boston aforesd in ye hearing of Sundry persons willingly & malisciouly utter these false & scandalous Words, concerning ye Complainant, He (meaning the Complainant) is Lyar & a Cheat & has cheated his men (meaning the Soldiers under his Command) of their Provisions; He has used them cruelly & beat one them in such a manner as caused his Death.""Homicides of Adults in Massachusetts, 1741–1750," Ohio State University
The outcome of the case is not recorded.
Service in Nova Scotia, 1748–1754
In 1748, Clapham was sent as a company commander to defend Annapolis Royal as part of a wave of New England reinforcements destined for Nova Scotia, where he served with Jedidiah Preble and Benjamin Goldthwait.Barry M. Moody, “GOLDTHWAIT, BENJAMIN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 3, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed June 29, 2022
Clapham was stationed in Nova Scotia during Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755). On 19 August 1749, Clapham was in command at Canso, Nova Scotia, when Lieutenant Joseph Gorham and his party were attacked by Mi'kmaq who took twenty prisoners and carried them off to Louisbourg. After Governor Edward Cornwallis complained to the governor of Ile Royale, the prisoners were released.
After the 1749 raid on Dartmouth, Clapham raised a company of 70 men, known as "Clapham's Rangers," to fight the Mi'kmaq. Cornwallis offered £10 for every Mi'kmaq scalp or prisoner. The bounty of scalps was raised to £50 in 1750, motivating Clapham and Francis Bartelo to form new ranger companies to search the land around Halifax, Nova Scotia for Mi'kmaq. Clapham relieved John Gorham in the Battle at St. Croix on 23 March 1750, by arriving at Pisiguit with his company of rangers and two cannons, forcing the Mi'kmaq to withdraw.Grenier, John. The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710–1760. University of Oklahoma Press, 2014. Clapham fought in the Battle at Chignecto on 3 September 1750. Although fighting continued across the Chignecto Isthmus during 1751, by summer Cornwallis had disbanded all ranger companies except Gorham's Rangers,Lee Sultzman, "Micmac History," 03/01/1999 a primarily Native American unit formed in 1744.Cox, Rob S., "John Gorham papers", William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
During the 1751 raid on Dartmouth (also referred to as the Dartmouth MassacreGentleman's Magazine, August 1751, p. 379) on 13 May 1751, Miꞌkmaq warriors and Acadian militia under the command of Acadian Joseph Broussard, raided Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, destroying the town, killing twenty British colonists and wounding four soldiers. Clapham and 60 soldiers from the 45th Regiment of Foot were stationed on Blockhouse Hill.Andrew Marshall, "What was Father Le Loutre's War? (1749–1755)" Boot Camp and Military Fitness Institute, Feb 17, 201 He and the company are reported to have remained within the blockhouse firing from the loopholes during the whole raid. A court-martial was called on 14 May, the day after the raid, to inquire into the conduct of the commanding officers who allowed the town to be destroyed.Thomas Beamish Akins, History of Halifax City, Nova Scotia Historical Society. Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1895 In June, Clapham's sergeant was acquitted.
Prosecution for homicide, 1751
In 1751, Clapham was prosecuted in Halifax for killing a drunk prisoner of war by gagging him too tightly. The case was unique in that Clapham was not brought before a court martial, but was instead tried in a civilian court. The outcome of the case is not recorded.
Divorce, 1754
Following his service in Nova Scotia, Clapham returned to Boston to face divorce proceedings. Records for the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 17 October 1754, show a "special act" in the case of Mary Clapham v. William Clapham,"An Act to Dissolve the Marriage of Mary Clapham with William Clapham," in Clifford, JH, Wheeler, AS, Williamson, WC. The Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay: To which are Prefixed the Charters of the Province. With Historical and Explanatory Notes, and an Appendix. Published Under Chapter 87 of the Resolves of the General Court of the Commonwealth for the Year 1867. Wright & Potter, printers to the state, 1896. sponsored in part by James Otis Sr., dissolving their marriage contract,Waters, John J. The Otis Family in Provincial and Revolutionary Massachusetts. Omohundro Institute and University of North Carolina Press, 2015. after William Clapham stood convicted of "leaving the said Mary, cohabiting and committing Adultery with Another Woman in Nova Scotia." The act allowed Mary to marry again, and the council later awarded Mary her household furniture, worth £100.John F. Crosby, Reply to Myth: Perspectives on Intimacy. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1985.Nancy F. Cott, "Divorce and the Changing Status of Women in Eighteenth-Century Massachusetts," The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 4, Oct., 1976, pp. 586–614
Promotion to colonel, 1756
Clapham then moved to Pennsylvania to assist Benjamin Franklin in constructing a series of forts along the frontier.Thomas Lynch Montgomery, ed. Pennsylvania Archives: 5th ser. Harrisburg: Harrisburg Publishing Company, State printer, 1906.John Franklin Meginness, "Otzinachson: Or, a History of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna; Embracing a Full Account of Its Settlement—trials and Privations Endured by the Early Pioneers—full Accounts of the Indian Wars, Predatory Incursions, Abductions, and Massacres, &c." in American County Histories: Pennsylvania county and regional histories. H. B. Ashmead, 1857 In late 1755, Governor Robert Hunter Morris ordered the construction of forts garrisoned with Pennsylvania militiamen, and plans were made to begin building Fort Hunter, Fort Halifax, and Fort Augusta. Following the Penn's Creek massacre, Great Cove massacre and Gnadenhütten massacre, Franklin had been charged with the rapid construction of three small forts in northeastern Pennsylvania (Fort Allen, Fort Franklin, and Fort Lebanon) but he felt that the responsibility for building forts should be given to someone with more military training, and offered a commission to Clapham, who accepted.Thomas Lynch Montgomery, ed. Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, Second Edition, Pennsylvania Society of New York. Harrisburg: W. S. Ray, state printer, 1916 Franklin writes in his autobiography:
"I had hardly finished this business and got my fort well stored with provisions, when I received a letter from the Governor...and my three intended forts being now completed, and the inhabitants contented to remain on their farms under that protection, I resolved to return; the more willingly as a New England Officer, Col. Clapham, experienced in Indian War, being on a visit to our establishment, consented to accept the Command. I gave him a commission, and, parading the garrison, had it read before them, and introduced him to them as an officer who, from his skill in military affairs, was much more fit to command them than myself."Benjamin Franklin, The Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 1: 1706-1757. Mark Skousen, ed. Simon and Schuster: Regnery Publishing, Washington DC, 2007.
Clapham was commissioned into the Pennsylvania Provincial Forces at the rank of colonel in February 1756,Hunter, William Albert. Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier: 1753–1758, (Classic Reprint). Fb&c Limited, 2018. and given command over the Augusta RegimentA Brief History of The Augusta Regiment as well as defenses in Northampton County.
Fort Hunter
The Pennsylvania colonial government decided to construct a fort at Hunter's Mill in response to the Penn's Creek massacre in October 1755. The mill was located about six miles north of Harris' Ferry, probably five hundred feet east of the mouth of Fishing Creek, near its confluence with the Susquehanna River, in present-day Dauphin County.Fort of the French and Indian War: Maps of 18th century forts in Pennsylvania, including Fort Hunter, Fort Halifax, and Fort Augusta. Fort Hunter was initially a stockaded gristmill in the Great Valley, owned by Samuel Hunter who lived on Fishing Creek.Kaufmann, J. E.., Kaufmann, H. W.. Fortress America: The Forts That Defended America, 1600 to the Present. Hachette Books, 2007. The mill was fortified with a simple stockade in January, 1756, and garrisoned with volunteer militia recruited by Thomas McKee, an Indian trader who operated a trading post nearby. He was appointed captain of "McKee's Volunteers," but provisions, clothing and ammunition were in short supply, and the post was vulnerable to attack.Clarence M. Busch, Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1896
On 8 March 1756, Franklin wrote to August Gottlieb Spangenberg that:
"We are apt to think, that the Guarrison in the Forts, after being a little more used to the Woods, and acquainted with the cunning Contrivances of the Savages, will be more diligent and successful, in ranging of the Woods; especially if Col. Clapham, who is reckond a very vigilant Gentleman, should soon come up again.""To Benjamin Franklin from Augustus Gottlieb Spangenberg, 8 March 1756," Founders Online, National Archives. Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 6, April 1, 1755, through September 30, 1756, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1963, pp. 423–424.